Rumors that the iPhone 8 may come with a $1,000 price tag are seemingly backed-up by a new report claiming that components for the next-gen handset will be considerably higher than those for its predecessor.

According to China’s Economic Daily News, the 3D Touch module alone for the iPhone 8 will cost 150 percent more than the comparable module for the current LCD iPhone.

As per a recent report from Goldman Sachs analyst Simona Jankowski, the 128GB iPhone 8 will sell for $999, while the 256GB version will set users back a whopping $1,099. This means that the iPhone 8 could represent a significant 25 percent price jump from the iPhone 7.

Every manufacturer that uses it has to pay royalties to Intel, which means you typically find it exclusively in expensive, high-end machines.

Intel has confirmed plans to drop Thunderbolt royalties in an effort to boost adoption. The chip-maker also plans to integrate Thunderbolt 3 into its own processors starting next year, eliminating the need for a dedicated controller.

Thunderbolt has become the ultimate standard for connecting peripherals to your computer, thanks to its incredibly high bandwidth and versatility. Thunderbolt 3’s 40Gbps speeds let you transfer a full 4K movie in just 30 seconds.

USB 3 is only 10GBPS!

Control IKEA Home Smart products with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Apple’s Home app

During the summer and early fall, IKEA will be adding functionality to its smart lighting range by enabling people to voice control their lighting with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and to set up and adjust lighting using Apple’s Home app and Siri voice commands. This takes IKEA one step closer to making smart home technology accessible for the many.

DJI unveiled the new Spark drone at an event in NYC this morning where the tiny flying camera impressed watchers with some innovative new features like the ability to be controlled without using a remote.

The Spark packs a 1/2.3” CMOS sensor that captures 12 megapixel photos and shoots stabilized HD 1080p videos so you can get super smooth shots. It also comes with new shooting modes you won’t find yet on the Mavic or Phantom 4: Pano and ShallowFocus.

Flight time on the Spark is around 16 minutes per battery with a range of 1.2 miles. Pricing for the basic kit starts at $499, or you can get the Fly More bundle with two batteries, extra propellers and prop guards and a carrying case for $699.

This week: new MacBook Pros at WWDC? Insiders say yes! We’ll tell you all we know. Plus: why future Macs are about to get much faster CPUs; Apple makes a big move to bring manufacturing back to the US; and we’ll wrap up with 5 weird and whacky facts about the new Apple Park campus.

Apple hasn’t released new hardware at a WWDC keynote since 2013, but the company is allegedly planning to unveil a new lineup of MacBooks, according to a report that claims the new machines will pack Intel’s new Kaby Lake processor to bring more speed than ever.

Three new laptops will debut at WWDC 2017, claims Bloomberg, citing “people familiar with the matter.” Both the MacBook Pro and 12-inch MacBook will be updated with new Intel chips.

Apple is also supposedly considering updating the 13-inch MacBook Air with a new processor, too, which would be quite a surprise as most observers assumed the machine was on its last legs now that the MacBook and MacBook Pro are thinner. Sales of the old MacBook Air remain “surprisingly strong” due to its cheap price tag, claims one of the report’s sources.

What features needed to make the machine exciting again

Shows Apple may be getting about making Mac great again.

Intel: Cannonlake CPUs will be more than 15 percent faster than Kaby Lake

Chipmakers in past years focused on increasing performance by raising the clock frequency. But that made chips power hungry, and their focus shifted to adding cores, which boosted performance but also added battery life to laptops. Then the focus turned to integrating technologies like graphics and I/O buses inside processors. Gaming and virtual reality have brought a focus back to raw CPU performance.

The performance improvements from Skylake to Kaby Lake topped out at 15 percent. The CPU performance boost for Cannonlake should be at least that, Intel said.

The gaming market is exploding, especially eSports, and demand for high-performance Core i7 chips skyrocketed last year

Intel may be trying to catch up with AMD, which is boasting a 40 percent performance improvement for its upcoming Ryzen chips.

In a note to clients over the weekend, Kuo suggested that the Siri home speaker will have a “touch panel,” although it’s not known whether this will be a full-on screen or a simpler touch-based interface of some sort.

Apple gives $200 million to iPhone glassmaker to promote U.S. manufacturing

You may have heard that Tim Cook recently announced a $1 billion Advanced Manufacturing Fund in an interview with Mad Money’s Jim Cramer at Apple Campus, he said the goal was to push “people to do advanced manufacturing in the United States.”

Rather than pulling from its enormous pile of overseas cash, Apple is borrowing the money for its $1 billion fund since that is cheaper than paying to repatriate its foreign money pile.

Apple has awarded Corning the first grant of its $1 billion investment aimed at boosting high-tech manufacturing jobs in the United States. The glassmaker will receive $200 million.

Apple’s contribution is part of its “Advanced Manufacturing Fund” will support Corning’s R&D, capital equipment needs, and state-of-the-art glass processing.

Apple recently purchased Beddit, a sleep monitoring system that pairs a pliable under-sheet sleep sensor with an app, all of which is designed to help users analyze and improve their sleeping habits.

Apple's Beddit purchase came to light because Beddit updated its privacy policy to both highlight the acquisition and implement Apple's privacy rules. "Your personal data will be collected, used and disclosed in accordance with the Apple Privacy Policy," reads the site.

Ask Alexa to show you the front door or monitor the baby's room with compatible cameras from Ring and Arlo. Turn on lights, control thermostats and more with WeMo, Philips Hue, ecobee, and other compatible smart home devices.

Kuo said Apple's smart home product will likely launch in the second half of 2017 and cost more than the Amazon Echo, $179. The device will supposedly support AirPlay with "excellent acoustics performance" from one woofer and seven tweeters. Kuo said its performance will be similar to the iPhone 6/6s.

Last week, leaker Sonny Dickson likewise said Apple's smart speaker could be announced as early as WWDC. He said the device will run a variation of iOS with unspecified Beats technology, in addition to a Mac Pro-like concave top with built-in controls and speaker meshing covering the majority of its surface.

A report from The Information said Apple's smart home speaker would be able to control appliances, locks, lights, and curtains through Siri voice commands. It added that some of the prototypes in testing have facial recognition sensors

AirPods are the most beloved product Apple has launched in years, based on a new survey that found an astonishing percentage of AirPod owners are extremely satisfied.

In a newly published study conducted by Creative Strategies and Experian, a total of 98 percent of AirPod owners said they are either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with Apple’s new wireless buds. Over 80 percent of customers said they are very satisfied.

Apple CEO Tim Cook set Twitter ablaze with speculation today — and all it took was a simple smiley face emoji.

Cook sent out a tweet with just a smiley face emoji this morning. No other context was provided, and the tweet got deleted shortly later, leading Apple fans on Twitter to wonder what the most powerful man in tech was really trying to say.